Bottlenecks, Drought, and Oil Price Spikes:
Impact on U.S. Ethanol and Agriculture
Chad Hart
Center for Agricultural and Rural Development
Iowa State University
chart@iastate.edu
515-294-9911
Minnesota Economic Association, 2007
St. Paul, Minnesota
October 26, 2007
Outline
 Based on an update of our earlier study “Emerging Biofuels:
Outlook of Effects on U.S. Grain, Oilseed, and Livestock
Markets”
http://www.card.iastate.edu/publications/synopsis.aspx?id=1050
 Updated with available 2006 and 2007 data
 The objective is to estimate:



how large the biofuels sector in the U.S. could become
the impact of the biofuels sector on crops markets, trade, and on
livestock markets
the response of world agricultural markets
Model Interactions
U.S. Ethanol Industry
Current ethanol capacity:
131 plants, 6.92 billion
gallons/year
Total capacity under
construction and expansion:
6.56 billion gallons/year
73 new ethanol plants and
10 expansion projects
underway
2.2 billion bushels of corn were used in producing fuel ethanol in 2006/2007 marketing year.
3.2-3.5 billion bushels of corn are expected to be used in producing fuel ethanol for 2007/2008
marketing year.
Three Cases
 Baseline
 Current policies, “normal” weather
 Higher oil prices throughout projection period
 Adding $10/barrel to the crude oil price
 Drought in the 2012 crop year

Placing a 1988-style drought in the middle of the
projection period
Projected U.S. Ethanol Production
billion gallons
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
Annual production based on Jan.-July 2007 numbers ~ 6.4 billion gallons
Wholesale Gasoline and Ethanol Prices
US$/gallon
3.00
2.75
2.50
2.25
2.00
1.75
1.50
1.25
1.00
2006
2008
Unleaded Gasoline
2010
Ethanol
2012
Unl. Gas (Sept. 2007)
2014
Ethanol (Sept. 2007)
2016
Projected U.S. Dry Mill Margins
US$/bushel
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
-0.20
-0.40
Margin Over Operating Costs
Margin Over Total Cost
2016
A Quick Look at Ethanol Blending
January 2007
Unleaded
E-10
September 2007
Unleaded
($/gallon)
Gasoline
1.490
Ethanol
E-10
($/gallon)
1.341
2.300
0.226
2.070
0.193
Price before
Taxes
1.490
1.567
2.300
2.263
Fed. Gas Tax
0.184
0.184
0.184
0.184
Ethanol Tax
Credit
Price after
Fed. Taxes
-0.051
1.674
1.700
-0.051
2.484
2.396
Ethanol Usage in 2004 (latest available)
Blending Percentage
0%
1 - 25%
25 - 50%
50 - 75%
75 - 100%
Projected U.S. Corn Planted Area
million acres
95
90
85
80
75
70
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
Projected U.S. Soybean Planted Area
million acres
80
75
70
65
60
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
18
3.80
16
3.70
14
3.60
12
3.50
10
3.40
8
3.30
6
3.20
4
3.10
2
3.00
0
2.90
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Production
Price
$ per bushel
billion bushels
Projected U.S. Corn Production and Prices
Projected Utilization of U.S. Corn
million bushels
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2006
2007
Feed
2008
2009
Fuel
2010
HFCS
2011
Seed
2012
2013
Food, Other
2014
Exports
2015
2016
Projected U.S. Distillers Grains
Production and Prices
80
125
70
120
115
50
40
110
30
105
20
100
10
0
95
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Production
Price
$ per ton
million tons
60
Projected U.S. Soybean Meal Production
and Prices
48
240
46
220
200
180
42
160
40
140
38
120
36
100
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Production
Price
$ per ton
million tons
44
Projected U.S. Meat Production
billion pounds
45
40
35
30
25
20
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Beef
2011
Pork
2012
Broiler
2013
2014
2015
2016
Projected Brazilian Ethanol Production
million gallons
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Brazil
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Projected Ethanol Production
million gallons
1500
1000
500
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
China
2011
2012
EU
India
2013
2014
2015
2016
Projected Argentine Area Harvested
thousand hectares
20000
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
Corn
2010
2011
Wheat
2012
2013
Soybeans
2014
2015
2016
Projected Brazilian Area Harvested
thousand hectares
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
Corn
2010
2011
Wheat
2012
2013
Soybeans
2014
2015
2016
Projected U.S. Biodiesel Production
million gallons
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
Impact of Higher Crude Oil Price
 Increased crude oil price by $10/barrel over the projection
 Margins on ethanol plants increase
 New incentive to invest in added capacity for ethanol
production
 Eventually, a new equilibrium reached where there is no
incentive to invest in or exit the ethanol industry
 Will demand for ethanol be enough?


E-10 market will saturate around 15 billion gallons
Drop in ethanol price will eventually encourage increase in
demand for the flex-fuel cars
Projected U.S. Ethanol Production
billion gallons
25
20
15
10
5
0
2006 2007
2008 2009
2010 2011 2012
Scenario
2013 2014
Baseline
2015 2016
Wholesale Gasoline and Ethanol Prices
US$/gallon
3.00
2.75
2.50
2.25
2.00
1.75
1.50
1.25
1.00
2006
2008
Unleaded Gasoline
2010
Ethanol
2012
Unl. Gas (Sept. 2007)
2014
Ethanol (Sept. 2007)
2016
Projected U.S. Corn Planted Area
million acres
110
100
90
80
70
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Scenario
Baseline
Projected U.S. Soybean Planted Area
million acres
80
75
70
65
60
55
2006
2007
2008 2009
2010
2011 2012 2013 2014
Scenario
Baseline
2015
2016
18
3.80
16
3.70
14
3.60
12
3.50
10
3.40
8
3.30
6
3.20
4
3.10
2
3.00
0
2.90
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Production
Price
$ per bushel
billion bushels
Projected U.S. Corn Production and Prices
Projected Utilization of U.S. Corn
million bushels
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2006
2007
Feed
2008
2009
Fuel
2010
HFCS
2011
Seed
2012
2013
Food, Other
2014
Exports
2015
2016
Projected U.S. Distillers Grains
Production and Prices
80
125
70
120
115
50
40
110
30
105
20
100
10
0
95
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Production
Price
$ per ton
million tons
60
Usage of Distillers Grains by Species
Dairy
9%
Poultry
12%
Pork
13%
Beef
66%
Projected U.S. Soybean Meal Production
and Prices
48
240
46
220
200
180
42
160
40
140
38
120
36
100
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Production
Price
$ per ton
million tons
44
Projected U.S. Meat Production
billion pounds
45
40
35
30
25
20
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Beef
2011
Pork
2012
Broiler
2013
2014
2015
2016
Projected U.S. Biodiesel Production
million gallons
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2006 2007
2008 2009
2010
2011 2012 2013 2014
Scenario
Baseline
2015 2016
Impact on Rest of the World
 World grain and oilseed prices increase
 Result in higher feed and food prices
 Higher livestock production cost
 Countries in South America and Asia fill the crop
gap
Impact of Short Crop Scenario
 Drought in 2012 similar to 1988


Regional yields of corn, soybeans and wheat
changed from trend levels
Yields were off by 25% for corn, 18% for
soybeans, and 11% for wheat in 1988
 Ethanol mandate for 2012 assumed to be 14.7
billion gallons
Deviation Corn
of Actual Production
Corn Production from
Expected
Historical
Deviations
Production
20%
15%
10%
5%
19
57
19
59
19
61
19
63
19
65
19
67
19
69
19
71
19
73
19
75
19
77
19
79
19
81
19
83
19
85
19
87
19
89
19
91
19
93
19
95
19
97
19
99
20
01
20
03
20
05
0%
-5%
-10%
-15%
-20%
-25%
-30%
-35%
Corn, Soybean and Ethanol Markets
 Corn price increases by 44% above baseline levels
 Soybean price rises by 22%
 Corn exports and stock levels decline by more
than 60%
 Corn exports from South America, China, etc. fill
part of the gap from decline in U.S. corn exports
 Corn feed use declines by 16% (switch to other
feeds)
 Ethanol trade increases moderately
Livestock Market
 Higher feed costs affect the livestock sector but to
a lesser extent as shock is perceived as temporary

Production declines


Broiler production declines the most (over 2.5%)
Milk production declines the least (0.5%)
Thank You